Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

It is the story of one Mr. Fox and his wild-ways of hen heckling, turkey taking and cider sipping, nocturnal, instinctive adventures. He has to put his wild days behind him and do what fathers do best: be responsible. He is too rebellious. He is too wild. He is going to try “just one more raid” on the three nastiest, meanest farmers that are Boggis, Bunce and Bean. It is a tale of crossing the line of family responsibilities and midnight adventure and the friendships and awakenings of this country life that is inhabited by Fantastic Mr. Fox and his friends.

2 comments

Wes Anderson brings his sense of filmmaking to claymation. He doesn’t comprise any on the his visual, his color palette, and his language. There’s no mistake that this is all Wes Anderson.

Mr. Fox decides to end his wild days by doing one last raid. He plans an elaborate raid on farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean.

The story isn’t of much consequence. The dialog is filled with the dry wit that Wes Anderson is known for. The camera style on shooting head on remain even thought it’s animation.

Add to it, Wes has enticed the voice talents of all his famous friends including George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, and Jason Schwartzman. George is especially effective as the suave Mr Fox.

It’s interesting to see Wes Anderson try something different. However I don’t this medium fits him that well. His style is already very static. The restriction of animation really decreases the emotional effectiveness of actors especially this type of claymation.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is easily the best animated feature of 2009. It should be rewarded with an Oscar nomination (and is every bit deserving of a win) even though Pixar’s Up (2009) could land the coveted statuette based on popular votes.

Adapted from the beloved Roald Dahl children’s book of the same name, the film tells the story of Mr. Fox and his sneaky scheme to steal poultry, especially chicken, from three nearby farms run by three nasty, detestable humans with a collective mission: to kill Mr. Fox and his family.

Director Wes Anderson who is well-known for films such as Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) is one of the key American filmmakers of the 90s to revive the low-budget independent offbeat comedy.

Even though much of his works remain underappreciated, Anderson has a loyal following claiming that he is one of the great filmmakers of our time. While that might be exaggerating it a fair bit, Fantastic Mr. Fox shows us why he is on course to being judged as such.

Fantastic Mr. Fox follows the stop-motion tradition of the ‘Wallace And Gromit’ films, and refutes the argument that brilliant animated films can only be made by Pixar. Anderson’s obsession with detail and his mastery of mise-en-scene also means that the film is far from ‘kiddish’; on the contrary, it can be seen as quality art.

While children may enjoy the visuals and the odd dose of behavioral humor (e.g. how the foxes consume their meal or how they dig themselves out of trouble), parents who are forced to tag along are far more likely to appreciate the authenticity of the character and set models used, and the themes of ‘family’, ‘responsibility’, and ‘collectivism’ which reverberate with quiet resonance throughout the film.

There is some superb voice work on show here with George Clooney as Mr. Fox and Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox. Supporting voice talents include stars Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Michael Gambon, William Dafoe, and Owen Wilson.

An ‘ethnic’ influence is evident in one of the characters here whose obsession with yoga and its meditative properties recalls a certain ‘spiritual’ Schwartzman in The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Anderson’s previous film about three brothers on a bonding trip to India.

Fantastic Mr. Fox also explores the important theme of domesticity versus the wild. Mr. Fox has a lovely family and he dotes on them. In short, he lives a comfortable life in his big house under a tree. But more often than not, he succumbs to his animalistic instinct by ‘hunting’ for food from the farms. He enjoys the temporal satisfaction of being a wild animal, or in this case, a sly, scheming fox.

In a key scene, Mr. Fox has a fleeting encounter with a black wolf. Even though suppressed by a psychological fear of wolves, he admires from distance the dark beauty of the creature, its freedom to roam the lands, to hunt, and its fortune to avoid the tepidity that is domesticity.

An Anderson masterpiece of craftsmanship and direction, Fantastic Mr. Fox very much assures itself of a spot in my top ten films of 2009.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Current ye@r *

Leave this field empty

Welcome on MovieSnackx.com

Welcome on MovieSnackx.com, the website for all your movie info and reviews.

On our Movie Wall you can find more than 3.900 movies.
Do not hesitate to send us your reviews of any movies you’ve been watching!
If you miss a movie on our website to write your review, request it here and we will add it for you.